Honey, I have a bad feeling

about yougoing to AfghanistanI don't know what to tell youat least after the first tourwe both knew what Iraqwould be likeCan't you get out of it somehowNo, this is what the latesttraining is all aboutCan't they send someone else,it's always you who has to goWill you do this alwaysthe rest of your lifeThis is what I signed up forbut I know whatyou are sayingLook, if I don't come backalways knowI will love you foreverthat if I liveI will love you forever tooSo don't be sad for a long timeand let my foreversbe just good enoughand go on and livea full lifeThat's romanticbut how in the hellam I supposed to livewithout you?

DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND OR RELATIVE IN THE

MILITARY?Forward Military Resistance along, or send us the address if you wish andwe’ll send it regularly. Whether in Afghanistan, Iraq or stuck on a base inthe USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut offfrom access to encouraging news of growing resistance to the wars, insidethe armed services and at home. Send email requests to address up top orwrite to: The Military Resistance, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y.10025-5657. Phone: 888.711.2550

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

Foreign Occupation Soldier Killed

Somewhere Or Other In Afghanistan: Nationality Not AnnouncedAugust 3 AP

A foreign servicemember died following an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan

NZ Soldier Killed In Bamiyan By

A New Zealand soldier has been killed and two others have been injured after theirpatrol came under attack in Afghanistan.

The New Zealand Defence Force said the soldier was killed in an attack on a NewZealand Provincial Reconstruction Team (NZPRT) patrol in the north-east of theBamiyan province.

The two injured soldiers were being evacuated and were said to have serious, but notlife threatening, injuries. Newstalk ZB have named one of the injured soldiers asMatthew Ball. A local interpreter taking part in the patrol had also been wounded.Defence Force chief, Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae said they were stilltrying to piece together the details , but could confirm that the group came undercomplex attack by as yet unknown assailants at approximatley 12:30 am NZ time.The dead solider was in one of three vehicles.

It was thought an improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated, followed by

an attack using rocket powered grenades and other small arms fire.

Air support was not able to be used to help the New Zealand patrol because ofweather conditions. Mateparae said they were now in the process of working outhow they would repatriate the deceased and wounded soldiers back to NewZealand.

Defence Force Minister Wayne Mapp said the death was a reminder that Bamiyan wasstill a dangerous place, especially in the north-east of the province.

ONE News reporter Michael Parkin had also recently been in Bamiyan and told TVONE's Breakfast this morning that Kiwi soldiers in Afghanistan were well aware of thedangers they face.

The northern region of the province, where the attack took place is, "where thegeography is on the side of the insurgents," Parkin said.

The 16th rotation of the NZPRT, commanded by Colonel John Boswell arrived inAfghanistan in April and were expected to remain in the country for about six months.

New Zealand also has Special Air Service personnel serving in Afghanistan. In total NewZealand has about 140 personnel in Bamiyan and about 80 SAS soldiers in Kabul.

Staff Sgt. Stout lived in Fayetteville, N.C., with his wife and three children. He leavesbehind his wife, Misty, and daughters Jacqueline, Audreanna, and Kristin; along with hisparents, Billy and Sharon Neuner.

Worthville, population 215, is a wonderful little town just up the road (I-71) fromLouisville, in scenic Carroll County; a stone’s-throw from beautiful Gen. Butler StatePark.

Born here in Jefferson County, on New Year’s Day, 1976, Staff Sgt. Stout was agraduate of Carroll County High School. He was an accomplished singer, and oftenpreached the Gospel at Worthville United Pentecostal Church. After joining the Army onDecember 7, 1997, he served as a Rigger with the 782nd Main Support Battalion at FortBragg. In September of 2006, at his request, he was reclassified as a Chaplain’sAssistant.

Capt. Ludovic O. Foyou, chaplain for 1-508 PIR, told Fayetteville’s WRAL-TV: “Staff Sgt.Christopher Stout was not just a chaplain assistant; he was my friend, brother and shieldof armor. His immensely pure love for his fellow paratroopers epitomizes the Spirit ofthe Army Chaplain Corps. His love for his wife Misty and three princesses, Jacqueline,Audreanna and Kristen, always kept a radiant smile on his face.”

The Governor will order that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff fromsunrise to sunset on the day of Staff Sgt. Stout’s interment for which arrangements arestill pending.

Afghan War Claims Soldier With Alton

TiesJuly 22, 2010 By LINDA N. WELLER, The Telegraph

ALTON - A 24-year-old soldier killed in Afghanistan on July 14 had ties to Alton, wherehis father, stepmother and two young siblings live - and now, mourn his death.

"He was a sweet boy; he was fun," said Alicia Fisher, 41, stepmother of U.S. Army Sgt.Zachary M. Fisher of Ballwin, Mo.

"He always wanted to be an Army man. When he was little, he told his dad, 'I want to bean Army man.' His dad told him, 'You are too young to be an Army man.' So Zach said, 'Iwant to be a cop.' His dad said, 'You are too young to be a cop.' So Zach asked, 'Can Ibe a kid cop?'"

Fisher said Zach's father, Robert Fisher, 54, a retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant,held a little ceremony anointing young Zach as a "kid cop."

Zach Fisher, of the 18th Airborne Corps, died along with three other soldiers in ZabulProvince, in the southeastern part of Afghanistan that borders Pakistan, east ofKandahar. An improvised explosive device destroyed the soldiers' military vehicle.

Among Fisher's duties was to seek out and disarm IEDs, so as to protect the troops.

Alicia Fisher said one of Zach's commanders said he was a "careful" soldier.

"He was careful to watch out for himself and for his men; he was firm but fair," she saidthe commander told her.

He was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C.

"He shared the knowledge from his last deployment with his soldiers and made sure theright thing was being done, no matter how difficult," Holmberg said.

Fisher was on his second tour of duty at the time of his death, having previously servedin Iraq. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2006, two years after graduating from MarquetteHigh School in Chesterfield, Mo.

The larger, extended family members have both military and medical backgrounds; ZachFisher had hoped to attend school to become a nurse, nurse anesthetist or othermedical occupation after leaving the Army.

"He had a plan, and he was determined to get it done," Alicia Fisher said. "He alwayswanted to help people. When he was going to Iraq, he said it felt like he was supposedto do it, he was happy to do it and he wanted to do it.

"We were so proud of his wanting to do it; he loved this country so much," she said."When he was home in May, he said, 'This is my country; I need to do what I was trainedto do' to protect his men."Alicia Fisher said she had been Zach's stepmother since he was 6 years old andconsidered him the same as if he was her own son.

"We had joint custody," she said. "He was never a stepchild to me. There was nodistinction."

She said he "looked like a twin" to his father. Robert and Alicia Fisher also have twochildren together, Alex, 8, and Zoe, 4, who adored their big brother and can't grasp thathe will not be coming home.

"He adored them; they adored him," she said. "He was always bringing home things forthem - a rucksack for Alex and dress-up things for Zoe. Zoe keeps asking when he iscoming back."

Fisher had hoped to come home on leave in December, before Christmas, then end histour of duty in February.

Now, Christmas will not be the same, said a tearful Alicia Fisher, who made ornamentsfor the two children and Zach that now will be a sad reminder during the holidays.

As news has come out about the sergeant's death, she said the family is heartened bycondolences from friends and the public.

"We can't express the thanks for people who have supported us," she said.

Zach Fisher was married for two years to Jessica Koltun Fisher of Hazelwood, Mo., andalso was the son of Susan and James Jacobs of Ballwin. Fisher's other brothers areAndrew - and his wife, Kim - of O'Fallon, Mo., and Clayton of Ballwin. He also hasanother sister, Emily, also of Ballwin, among other relatives.

The family expects Fisher's body to arrive Friday in St. Louis, with visitation scheduledfor 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Schrader Funeral Home and Crematory, 14960 ManchesterRoad, Ballwin. The funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday.

The graveside service and burial will be private.

The Jacobses flew to Dover, Del., last week to be there when Fisher's body arrived fromAfghanistan. He last had been to the St. Louis area in May to attend his grandfather'sfuneral.

Fisher's family requests that in lieu of flowers, people may donate to: Disabled AmericanVeterans, American Legion Post 313, 200 Main St., St. Peters, Mo. 63376, or a Veteransof Foreign Wars post of choice.

The day before Fisher and three others were killed, three American paratroopers died inKandahar City when Taliban forces attacked an Afghan police compound.

According to http://www.icasualties.org, as of Thursday, there have been 201 U.S. troop

deaths this year from IEDs in Afghanistan; 1,121 American deaths in or nearAfghanistan since Nov. 25, 2001, with 1,066 of them within the country proper duringOperation Enduring Freedom.

Family, Friends Mourn Loss Of Chase

StanleyJuly 23, 2010 By Carlos Villatoro, For The Weekly Calistogan

Family and friends of a young Lake Berryessa soldier who died while serving inAfghanistan are attempting to come to terms with the loss.

Chase Stanley, 21, was killed last Wednesday when insurgents attacked the vehicle hewas riding in with an improvised explosive device.

The attack occurred in the Zabul Province of Afghanistan and also killed Army Spc.Jesse D. Reed, 26, of Orefield, Penn., Spc. Matthew J. Johnson, 21, of Maplewood,Minn., and Sgt. Zachary M. Fisher, 24, of Ballwin, Mo.

Stanley is the son of Nylind and Debbie Stanley, residents of Lake Berryessa, andbrother to Britney Stanley, 23, and Ryan Stanley, 26. Chase Stanley graduated fromNapa High School in 2006, and enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 17, alongside histwo good friends Matt Fuller and Max Wilhipe, Britney Stanley said.

“I think he felt like that was his skill set,” she said. “It was what he wanted to do, he wassupposed to be there. He spent his whole life getting ready for it, always hunting.Outdoors was his lifestyle.”

Army Spc. Matt Fuller said he grew up camping, hunting, fishing and riding dirt bikeswith Stanley in the Lake Berryessa area and decided to enlist in the Army alongside theirfriend, Wilhipe.

“Ever since we were little kids, it was never something that was talked about; it was justsomething we were going to do,” Fuller said. “Of course, when 9/11 happened, thatdefinitely hit the nail home. Napa is a small town and we wanted to get out and see theworld.”

The trio enlisted after high school and Stanley was sent to boot camp during the secondweek of July 2006, recalls childhood friend Lance Bubak, 20. Stanley’s service recordincluded a 15-month tour in Iraq as part of the 27th Engineer Battalion (CombatAirborne), 20th Engineer Brigade (Combat), out of Fort Bragg, N.C.

“That’s one thing that I can say about Chase,” Bubak said. “He always came back and itwas like old times. Even if something did bother him, he wouldn’t complain.”In December 2009, Stanley was ordered to serve in Afghanistan with his unit, but notbefore returning home to Lake Berryessa to spend time with his friends and family.

“He was home for Thanksgiving around then; we all saw him,” Britney Stanley said. “Wehad a big family party.”

Chase Stanley also took the time to get together with friends such as Fuller, Bubak andhis brother, Dane, who also grew up in the Lake Berryessa area. Bubak said Stanleywas the type of guy who would always make everyone laugh, offering funny quotes fromone of his favorite movies “Joe Dirt” and donning a pair of goggles while sitting around acampfire, giving everyone nicknames.

He was also fiercely dedicated to his friends, family and country, Bubak said. InDecember 2009, Stanley, Bubak and Fuller attended a friend’s barbecue in Davis. Thechildhood friends ate, drank and swapped stories of the past and present, Bubak said.

“I never once heard him say ‘I hate it out there,’” Bubak said. “He was just a guy whowould say ‘This is my job.’ I remember giving him a big hug and saying ‘Hey man, takecare of yourself. We have some more things to do in the future.’”

Bubak said that he knew his friend was serving in a dangerous place, but hoped that thedanger would never find him. The death of his childhood friend has Bubak in shock, hesaid.

“I’m pretty sad about the whole ordeal,” he said.

Fuller said Stanley was his best friend and he is attempting to remain strong in the wakeof his death.

“I’m doing as well as I can, I guess,” Fuller said. “I talked to his mother this morning. Weare trying to arrange for all of us to get home because of the funeral and everything.Everything seems to be falling apart for me. He was more than just a friend. I’ve knownhim my whole life. I’m just trying to keep my stuff together and be strong for him.”

Knowing that Stanley was in a war zone concerned his family, Britney Stanley said, butStanley made frequent calls back home to reassure them that he was OK.

“He called whenever he could; he always called my mom and told us as much as hecould,” she said.

Stanley was looking forward to coming home in September for his brother Ryan’swedding, his sister said. Stanley died a little over a month before his 22nd birthday.Funeral arrangements for Stanley have not been released.

Stanley is the third person from Napa County to have died oversees in the recent MiddleEast conflicts.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Phillip West, of American Canyon, died while on a mission inIraq in November 2004, and U.S. Army Pfc. Jennifer Cole of Napa died in Iraq in August2008. Grief And Gratitude At Funeral For Marine Tyler RoadsJuly 17, 2010 By Ryan Sabalow, Redding.com

At one point in high school, Tyler Allen Roads was struggling with his grades, so LarrySnelling, superintendent of the Fall River Joint Unified School District, went to have achat with the boy he’d known for years. “He said, ‘I’ll do better. I’ll make you proud ofme,’” Snelling said before several hundred people Saturday at the 20-year-old fallenMarine’s funeral in Burney.

Snelling had no idea how much those words proved to be true.

“I’m so proud to have known him,” Snelling said. “I’m so blessed to have known him.”

Snelling was hardly alone. The words “pride” and “hero” and their various intonationswere spoken over and over during the graveside service for Roads at the Burney DistrictCemetery on Bailey Avenue.

“He was my hero,” said Steven Gibbs, 22, of Burney, one of four of Roads’ formerschoolmates who spoke through tears during the memorial. “I hope some day I can besomeone’s hero like he was mine.”

The Marine lance corporal died a week earlier while supporting combat operations inHelmand province in Afghanistan, according to the Department of Defense.

Last Monday would have been his 21st birthday.

His flag-draped coffin was taken Friday from the Redding Municipal Airport to Burney onFriday. Hundreds lined the procession route.

By at least one estimate, some 500 people attended Saturday’s service, which includeda Marine honor guard.

The gunshots from a 21-gun salute and the haunting melody of a Marine bugler playingtaps floated through the evergreen trees.

The Marines gave three folded flags to Roads’ family, one to his mother, Sonia; one tohis grandmother, Olivia Stevenson; one to his father Travis Roads; and one to his wife,Megan Stone-Roads.

Family and friends revealed Saturday that Stone-Roads, 21, had discreetly married theyoung Marine in November.

Stone-Roads and Sonia Roads shook and sobbed during the services, often leaning oneach other in their grief.A 2007 graduate of Mountain View High School in Burney, Roads had lived with hisgrandparents, Greg and Olivia Stevenson of Burney.

Sara Evans, a family friend from Burney, said the Stevensons had asked her to conveyto the community how thankful they are for the outpouring of support.

“She and Greg know what they had in their hearts with Tyler, and no words can expresstheir feelings,” Evans said.

Roads also is survived by Travis and Liz Roads, his father and stepmother, and a host ofother family members, many of whom attended the service.

“He was grandma’s shining star, as she put it,” said The Rev. Ken Frazier, who officiatedthe services.

He would say later to the young Marine’s wife: “Megan, you were his shining star.”

Dignitaries in the crowd included Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, and ShastaCounty Sheriff Tom Bosenko. Nielsen said before the services that during budgetnegotiations earlier in the week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had asked him to sendhis condolences to the family because he couldn’t attend the services himself.Schwarzenegger also had sent out a statement earlier in the week offering condolencesfrom him and his wife, Maria.

Capitol flags were ordered to be flown at half staff.

He is the second Marine from Burney to die in the war in Afghanistan.

Marine Capt. Matthew W. Bancroft, 29, a 1990 graduate of Burney High School, diedalong with six fellow Marines on Jan. 9, 2002, when the air-refueling tanker he waspiloting crashed into a mountainside in southwestern Pakistan.

Ron Harshman, commander of the area’s Veterans of Foreign Wars post and a Navyveteran, said it came as no surprise that so many people turned out to offer their supportand condolences to Roads and his family.

“That’s what people love about this community,” he said. “They come together.”

POLITICIANS CAN’T BE COUNTED ON TO HALT

THE BLOODSHED

THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE

WARS One Foreign Soldier Wounded In Four Hour “Combined Infantry And Rocket Attack” By Taliban On Kandahar Airfield

A map of Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, Aug. 1, 2010. Kandahar Airfield is the largestmilitary base in southern Afghanistan and has a population by some estimates of at least20,000 soldiers and civilians, and has many of the same services of a small Americancity. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Bulgarian troops engaged in a firefight in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Aug 03 2010 The Sofia Echo staff & The Canadian Press

Elements of the Bulgarian Army were involved in a fire-fight with insurgents on themorning of August 3, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

"A combined infantry and rocket attack occurred on August 3 at 9.45am Bulgarian time.The Bulgarian troops repelled the attack with assistance from their allies," the statementreads.

Air Commodore Gordon Moulds, the commander of Kandahar Airfield, believed therocket attacks were initially the signal for the ground attack to begin. He said a NATOsoldier was wounded by shrapnel from one of the rockets.

There were no Bulgarian casualties in the incident and the damage incurred wasreported as "minimal".

Watch towers were fired upon and a tractor was detonated, while used "as a car bomb".Additionally, two missiles were fired at the base where the Bulgarian soldiers aredeployed.The attack occurred at 10.26am Afghan time. There were no Bulgarian casualties in theattack.

At least five rockets and mortars were fired at the sprawling airbase in the four hourattack but the insurgents failed to gain entry.

The Kandahar Fiasco:

Notes From A Stupid, Blind, Futile, Silly, Hopeless, Brain-Dead, Complete Disaster: Where Every Little Piece Of Happy Talk From Command Runs Into Material Reality, And It Ain’t Pretty:[Have Fun Reading Between The Lines In This One]August 3, 2010 By Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Washington Post Staff Writer [Excerpts]

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- This city is starting to feel a lot like Baghdad.

Tall concrete blast walls, like those that surround the Green Zone, are seeminglyeverywhere.

Checkpoints supervised by U.S. soldiers have been erected on all major roads leadinginto the city. Residents are being urged to apply for new identification cards that requirethem to have their retinas scanned and their fingerprints recorded.

As U.S. and NATO commanders mount a major effort to counter the Taliban's influencein Kandahar, they are turning to population-control tactics employed in the Iraqi capitalduring the 2007 troop surge to separate warring Sunnis and Shiites. They are bettingthat such measures can help separate insurgents here from the rest of the population,an essential first step in the U.S.-led campaign to improve security in and aroundAfghanistan's second-largest city.

"If you don't have control of the population, you can't secure the population," said Brig.Gen. Frederick Hodges, director of operations for the NATO regional command insouthern Afghanistan.In Baghdad, the use of checkpoints, identification cards and walled-off communitieshelped to reduce violence because there were two feuding factions, riven by sect.Because the city had been carved into a collection of separate Sunni and Shiiteneighborhoods, U.S. forces were able to place themselves along the borders. Both sidestolerated the tactics to a degree because they came to believe U.S. troops would protectthem from their rivals.

The conflict in Kandahar is far murkier.

There are no differences in religion or ethnicity: Nearly everyone here is a Sunni

Pashtun. There are divisions among tribes and clans, but they are not a reliableindicator of support for the Taliban.

And many residents regard U.S. forces as the cause of the growing instability,rather than the solution to it.

Military officials hope the measures will nonetheless make it more difficult for the Talibanto transport munitions into the city and to attack key government buildings. The use ofbiometric scans will allow soldiers at checkpoints to apprehend anyone whosefingerprints are in a database of suspected insurgents.

"Just because Afghanistan is different from Iraq, it doesn't mean you can't usetechniques that worked well there," Hodges said.

Another tactic employed in Iraq and soon to be copied in Kandahar involves majoroutlays from a discretionary fund that commanders can use to pay for quick-turnaroundreconstruction projects.

Gen. David H. Petraeus, the former top commander in Iraq who recently took charge ofthe U.S. and NATO mission in Afghanistan, called such money "a weapon system."

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates recently approved a proposal from Petraeus to

spend $227 million from the fund -- the largest-ever single expenditure -- to pay for newgenerators and millions of gallons of diesel to increase the electricity supply inKandahar. Petraeus and other top military officers in Afghanistan have supported thecostly effort because they think the provision of more power will lead residents to viewtheir government more favorably, which is a key element of the counterinsurgencycampaign.

But some U.S. civilian officials in the country question whether the increase inpower, which will be directed toward businesses, will win over residents.

The officials maintain that the United States will have to keep shelling out millionsof dollars a month for diesel or risk further wrath from Kandaharis because ahoped-for hydroelectric project intended to replace the generators will take yearsto complete.

Contractors working for the NATO regional command already have installed 7,000concrete slabs -- each eight feet wide -- around the governor's palace and the mayor'soffice, along major roads and in front of police stations.Demand for the walls are so high that several manufacturing sites have sprung up on thehighway heading toward the airport.

Kandahar's governor, Tooryalai Wesa, told Hodges that he does not want parts ofthe city to turn into an Iraq-like Green Zone.

Although municipal workers have registered about 20,000 residents into thebiometric database and provided them with plastic identification cards, AfghanPresident Hamid Karzai put the registration on hold last week because ofconcerns over privacy rights, military officials said.

There are other grievances.

Residents near checkpoints say electronic jamming equipment used by soldiers

to prevent remote-controlled bombs interferes with their mobile phones.Shopkeepers say they are losing business.

"Since they put the cement walls up, security is better, but nobody is coming toour shops," an elderly man named Rafiullah told Hodges as he visited his smallstall filled with sundries next to a checkpoint on the western border.

Hodges promised to "figure out a solution." But removing any of them involves atrade-off in protection for the forces in the city.

Last month, three U.S. soldiers and four Afghan interpreters were killed when twosuicide bombers stormed a police headquarters building that had not yet been fullyencircled with concrete walls.

Hodges said the checkpoints have forced insurgents to find alternate routes into the city,either through the desert or on dirt paths, which limit what they can transport and howquickly they can move. "Will we stop everyone? No," he said. "But it is having an effect.The enemy is having to change their movements."

The Taliban are also seeking to place new obstacles for U.S. and Afghan forces.

In the Arghandab district north of Kandahar, where U.S. soldiers from the 101stAirborne Division are seeking to clear out pockets of Taliban fighters, theinsurgents have seeded pomegranate groves and vineyards with homemade anti-personnel mines; several soldiers have been maimed by them over the past twoweeks.

Commanders are wrestling with the option of razing some fields to remove thebombs, which would eliminate many farmers' livelihoods, or assume more risk byleaving the crops untouched.

"Counterinsurgency doctrine says you don't turn the population against you," aU.S. officer in the area said. "But at how much of a cost does that make sense?"

Perhaps the most important reason population control worked to the extent it did inBaghdad was because each side believed the other posed an existential threat, andboth turned to the United States for security. In many parts of southern and easternAfghanistan, the population has yet to seek protection.

Many Kandaharis regard the Taliban as wayward brothers and cousins -- fellowPashtuns with whom they can negotiate and one day reconcile.

But the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy depends on persuading Pashtuns to get

off the fence and cast their lot with their government.

The U.S. military and civilian agencies are trying to help the government win over thepublic by delivering services to the population that the Taliban does not offer, includingeducation, health care, agricultural assistance and justice based on the rule of law.

That requires capable civil servants willing to work in an unstable environment -- andthat's where the strategy is hitting its most significant roadblock.

A recent effort by Karzai's local-governance directorate to fill 300 civil service jobsin Kandahar and the surrounding district turned up four qualified applicants, evenafter the agency dropped its application standards to remove a high schooldiploma, according to several U.S. officials.

The main impediment is security.

Afghans don't want to work for their government or U.S. development contractorsin such an unsafe environment. But if the government and contractors cannotemploy qualified workers, the government cannot deliver services and will beunable to win the population's allegiance, a prerequisite for improved security.

To crack that loop, U.S. officials are exploring ways to protect Afghans working for thegovernment.

One plan under consideration would involve transforming the Kandahar Hotel into asecure dormitory surrounded by concrete walls, for civil servants. Developmentcontractors working for USAID are building compounds with secret entrances tominimize the chances that insurgents spot staff members.

Getting government officials in place is no guarantee of success. Kandahar's governor

and mayor are regarded as ineffective administrators, but U.S. and Canadian advisersare trying to transform them into more competent leaders.

In the Panjwai district to the west of Kandahar, U.S. officials say, the districtgovernor and the police chief recently got into a fight. The chief hit the governorwith a teakettle and the governor smashed a teacup on the chief's head, theconfrontation culminating in a shootout between their guards.

In Arghandab, U.S. military and civilian officials spent a year working closely with-- and praising -- the district governor, Abdul Jabar. When he was killed in a carbombing in Kandahar this summer, the officials blamed the Taliban.

But some of those same officials concluded that the governor was skimming U.S.funds for reconstruction projects in his district.His killing, they think, was the result of anger by fellow residents over his notdistributing the spoils, not a Taliban assassination.

"It was a mob hit," said one U.S. official familiar with the situation.

"We saw him as a white knight, but we were getting played the whole time."

A blast aimed at a presidential adviser in Jalalabad August 2, 2010 wounded eight when a remote controlled bomb exploded in Jalalabad city. REUTER/Parwiz

Aug 1 (KUNA) & August 2, 2010 AFP

A senior adviser to President Hamid Karzai was badly wounded in a bomb attackMonday as he travelled in eastern Afghanistan, a provincial spokesman told AFP.

Waheedullah Sabawoon, adviser on tribal affairs to the president, was on a personal

visit in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, when a bomb placed in a rickshawexploded and hit his vehicle.

The blast wounded the adviser and a tribal elder travelling with him, along with fivecivilians near their vehicle, said spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai.

"Sabawoon’s wounds are not critical and he’s in a stable condition in hospital," saidAbdulzai.

The Kabul-based Sabawoon, who has been advising Karzai for more than four years,was once intelligence chief of Hizb-e-Islami, the largest anti-Soviet resistance group ofthe Cold War. *********************************************

A car bomber blew himself up near a police truck, carrying a district official, in a marketin Dand district of Kandahar province, citing Afghan interior ministry statement the state-run Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN) reported. The PNA said that the target AhmadullahNazak, the chief of Dand district, adding that he remained unhurt but his bodyguard waswounded.

NO MISSION; POINTLESS WAR: ALL HOME NOW

United States soldiers from the 508 Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne,patrol in Arghandab Valley, outside Kandahar City, July 9, 2010. (AP Photo/KevinFrayer)

US soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division walk back to their base at Combat OutpostNolen in the Arghandab Valley north of Kandahar, July 20, 2010. REUTERS/Bob StrongU.S. soldiers from the 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division patrol towards COPNolen, Arghandab Valley, Kandahar, Afghanistan, July 20, 2010. (AP Photo/RodrigoAbd)

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

Obama Will Keep 50,000 U.S. Pacifists On Duty In Iraq COMMENT: TIf, as the story reports, “U.S. combat troops would leave Iraq by the end ofAugust,” then the 50,000 U.S. troops not leaving Iraq must therefore be non-combat troops. There is no third category: combat or non-combat are the onlypossibilities. Therefore, if they are non-combatants, who, by definition, do notbear arms or engage in combat, they must be pacifists.

Either that or Obama is a shit-eating lying soldier-killing traitor who has no

intention whatsoever of ending the U.S. war on Iraq until the troops rebel andforce him to do so, as the troops did to end the war on Vietnam. T]

******************************************************************

August 3, 2010 By Kathleen Hennessey and Liz Sly, Los Angeles Times [Excerpts]

Reporting from Atlanta and Baghdad — President Obama affirmed Monday that U.S.combat troops would leave Iraq by the end of August — "as promised and on schedule"— in a speech aimed at highlighting a foreign policy bright spot and rebuilding supportfor the struggling mission in Afghanistan.

There are currently 65,000 troops in Iraq. The president gave assurances that the U.S.force would drop to 50,000 by the end of the month — a reduction of 94,000 since hetook office 18 1/2 months ago.

Resistance ActionA destroyed vehicle after a bomb attached to the car of a police major went off inHurriyah neighborhood, seriously wounding him in Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 3, 2010. (APPhoto/Karim Kadim)

Aug 2 (Reuters) & Aug. 3 AFP

Militants hoisted their flag having killed five police officers at a securitycheckpoint in the Mansour district of west-central Baghdad, an interior ministrysource said.

An Iraqi army major was killed when a roadside bomb targeting an army patrol explodedsouth of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Insurgents attacked the house of a policeman in Falluja, 50 km (32 miles) west of

Baghdad, killing three people and wounding seven, police said.

One Iraqi soldier was killed and three soldiers were wounded when a roadside bombwent off near an army patrol in the Sadr City district of eastern Baghdad, police said.

A traffic police officer was killed when a bomb attached to his motorcycle exploded in theGhadir district of southeastern Baghdad, police said.

Attackers shot dead a security guard for a lawmaker of the Iraqiya coalition on Mondayin central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

NEED SOME TRUTH?

CHECK OUT TRAVELING SOLDIERTraveling Soldier is the publication of the Military Resistance Organization.

Telling the truth - about the occupations or the criminals running the governmentin Washington - is the first reason for Traveling Soldier. But we want to do morethan tell the truth; we want to report on the resistance to Imperial wars inside thearmed forces.

Our goal is for Traveling Soldier to become the thread that ties working-classpeople inside the armed services together. We want this newsletter to be aweapon to help you organize resistance within the armed forces.

If you like what you've read, we hope that you'll join with us in building a networkof active duty organizers. http://www.traveling-soldier.org/

And join with Iraq Veterans Against the War to end the occupations and bring alltroops home now! (www.ivaw.org/) MILITARY NEWS

FORWARD OBSERVATIONS“At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh hadI the ability, and could reach the nation’s ear, I would, pour out a fiery stream ofbiting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke.

“For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder.

“We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.”

Frederick Douglass, 1852

Hope for change doesn't cut it when you're still losing buddies.-- J.D. Englehart, Iraq Veterans Against The War

Slaughter House Rules

From: Mike Hastie

To: Military ResistanceSent: August 02, 2010Subject: Slaughter House Rules

Slaughter House Rules

As God walks atop this wall and weeps,

I hear him say, "These were my sons."The sound of his tears fall silenced,as hands are washed in the Potomac,and it runs red with waste.The Pontius Pilates of the new Rome,repeat history on full automatic. Nicholas James Weber Vietnam Veteran

Washington (AP) August 1, 2010

As the war in Afghanistan faces a loss of publicand congressional support and U.S. casualtiesrise sharply, the Obama administration is paintingits goals for the war as humble and achievablewhile warning there is no quick fix.

As far as a "fix" is concerned, the Pentagon

has had a needle in its arm for the past nineyears in Afghanistan.The United States Government has become awar junkie with needle marks up both arms.The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have becomea trillion dollar fix that is destroying everythingin sight.The war on drugs is right in front of us.America has an addiction to war.America has an addiction to killing.America has an addiction to greed.America has an addiction to power.America has an addiction to lying.America has an addiction to being a predator.And the overdose is killing us every god-damn day.

Mike HastieU.S. Army MedicVietnam 1970-71August 2, 2010

Photograph by Mike Hastie:

Little girl at the Wall in 1986Total silence.Stepping forward.Hands to both sides.Head slightly down.Eyes closed.Eternity.

Photo and caption from the I-R-A-Q (I Remember Another Quagmire) portfolio ofMike Hastie, US Army Medic, Vietnam 1970-71. (For more of his outstanding work,contact at: (hastiemike@earthlink.net) T)One day while I was in a bunker in Vietnam, a sniper round went over my head.The person who fired that weapon was not a terrorist, a rebel, an extremist, or aso-called insurgent. The Vietnamese individual who tried to kill me was a citizenof Vietnam, who did not want me in his country. This truth escapes millions.

Mike HastieU.S. Army MedicVietnam 1970-71December 13, 2004

August 4, 1964: Lying Lyndon Johnson Fakes The USA Into Escalation In VietnamCarl Bunin Peace History July 30-Aug 5

A second attack on U.S. naval ships in Vietnam’s Gulf of Tonkin was reported bythe Pentagon. But there was no such activity reported by the task forcecommander in the Gulf, Captain John J. Herrick.

One of the Navy pilots flying overhead that night was squadron commander JamesStockdale, later held as a POW by the North Vietnamese for more than seven years,and Ross Perot’s vice presidential candidate in 1992.

“I had the best seat in the house to watch that event,” recalled Stockdale, “andour destroyers were just shooting at phantom targets — there were no PT boatsthere.... There was nothing there but black water and American firepower.”

Nearly three decades later, during the Gulf War, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist SydneySchanberg warned journalists not to forget “our unquestioning chorus of agreeabilitywhen Lyndon Johnson bamboozled us with his fabrication of the Gulf of Tonkin incident

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